Shoulder shots?

[AWsaddles]

I am not advocating shoulder shots or smaller cal ball usage but I thought I would show these pics just for reference. Cal was a 40 cal prb traveling at 1900+ fps at 50 yards. Could not get buck to stop and took a walking shot that hit on the shoulder on the left side, not the shot i wanted but its what happened. Ball shattered right leg bone, And passed though exiting deer on left side by just barely missing right shoulder blade. Tissue damage was pretty sever. Deer traveled less than 30 yards from where I shot him.

First pic is enterance, second pic is exit. Third is the bone that took a direct hit.

 

[MDK_WV]

This buck was taken in 2002 with a .50 cal. Cabelas Hawken Muzzleloader using .490 round ball and 0.015 patch with 80 grains of 2F Goex powder at 35 yards. The shot was placed at the right front of the shoulder and exited through the ribs just behind the left front shoulder. This buck was above and quartering toward me through second growth timber. The deer fell within 10 feet of the shot and never got back up.

 

[Spikebuck]

I always take what I think is the shot with the most forgiveness for any error that may occur. To me that's Center Lungs. "Behind the Shoulder", to me, is a high shot too. If I'm high in a tree stand and the deer is close, then perhaps my aim is behind the shoulder. But basically I like behind the leg bone from 1/3 to no more than 1/2 way up the body from the bottom. How far behind the leg bone depends on angle. Basically shooting for the opposite front leg.

I have taken one doe with an "accidental" high shoulder hit with a .54 and one with a bow from the ground. Both dropped right there. But I won't intentionally try the shot. Just me. I think it comes from being a bowhunter-only for about 30 years before ever touching a gun.

Personally, I wouldn't "experiment" on a live animal.

 

[Travis Gregory]

This past weekend I killed my second deer with a high shoulder shot from a .50prb and 60gr load of 3F Goex. You can read my post on the shooting accessories forum. It is very lethal and puts them down in their tracks. The first time I did it was an accident. This last time on purpose. Intentionally taking that shot is no diffrent than taking the behind the shoulder shot. Either way if you wabble or misjudge distance bad things can happen. Where I killed my latest deer if one travels very far after the shot they can become unrecoverable without rapelling and climbing gear. So when I hunt that area I always take the high shoulder shot if it presents itself.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I hunt a round ball like an arrow. Try for both lungs and low - possibly to involve the heart or at least as many large blood vessels as possible.

Smashing the shoulder also ruins a lot of meat.

I aim to keep the shots hereabouts. Up close I go for the lower yellow dot and further off the upper one; figuring I'll spray a ball somewhere in a deadly region.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Back when this sport found it's rebirth in the 50's most of the old guys who remembered the days when muzzleloading was still in use would tell us, "Lung shot if you eat them, shoulder shot if they'd eat you"!

 

[Woodyrock]

I got the bright idea (sounded good at the time) to take a head shot so as to not waste any meat. The buck dropped like a cannon ball hit him, and no wasted meat. However, since I knocked both antlers loose, I nearly got ticketed going though a game check. Only thing that saved me was the head was still attached. The gamies could have ticketed me, taken the buck, my rifle, and my rig. Washington state of course. Loose antlers are illegal. Or were then. Went right back to aiming for the boiler room.
Woody

 

[roundball]

Personally, I wouldn't "experiment" on a live animal.

I think you're missing the point of this discussion..."experimenting" or unknowns are not involved here.
A general shoulder shot will still ultimately be successful, its just that it won't have a "drop in their tracks" result if the spine is missed...and the interest of this thread was in getting them to drop in their tracks due to the hunting conditions being faced with.

 

[Nifeman]

Personally I don't know why you have a fixation on a shoulder shot. If you can hit that, surely you can aim just behind it and take the heart/lungs which we all know will definitly stop them. I also meat hunt, and if I can't get kill shot, I don't take the shot. Seen too many run off after being shot in the "shoulder"

 

[roundball]

Personally I don't know why you have a fixation on a shoulder shot.

LOL...you need to brush up on your reading.

I have no "fixation" on the shoulder shot but I definitely have first hand experience with it.

The OP who started this thread asked questions about shoulder shots as he was interested in trying to anchor a deer on the spot. As good forum members, several of us have chimed in to try and help with information / experiences, etc.

I have no such hunting conditions and am on record here for a decade about the "heart shot" being my preferred target and take that shot 99.9% of the time.

Hope all that's easier for you to understand now.
:thumbsup:

 

[dbutch]

No thanks...I like clean venison! Heat-lung prefered.

 

[Spikebuck]

Roundball....the original poster said: "for some odd reason I have this desire to bust my next whitetail square in the shoulder to see if there is enough power to break the shoulder and put it down right away. For whatever reason I seem to be questioning myself if that would be a poor idea. "

If they don't know, it sounds to me like an experiment, or something not as desireable as knowing for sure. Yes, that's what the post is about...everyone's experiences, but if I didn't know, I wouldn't attempt it. :v

 

[pmwest]

Never intentionally aimed for shoulder or high shoulder area. General load behind a 490 PRB is 90g FFg or 80g FFFg. My goal is double lung but in most cases I end up with some shoulder damage because one foreleg will be in the back position and I clip it. In a couple of circumstances I have “missed” high and tight hitting top of the scapula and spine. This brings a deer down quick but not out fast enough for my taste. Have taken a second shot to dispatch if the head comes back up off the ground. I consider these misses because it cost a few portions of dinner.

 

[Nifeman]

Nothing wrong with my reading, I was under the impression that it was going to be an experiment and like I said if you can't make a killing shot don't take it :thumbsup: :thumbsup: ...Bud

 

[crockett]

Well, what's the conclusion on a muzzle loader being used for a shoulder shot? If it hits the spine the deer drops but otherwise runs about as far (or farther) than a heart/lung shot? As I said, on a 30-06 etc I think the massive force tends to drop the animal pretty reliably.

 

[Idaho Ron]

I wasn't going to post since this is a PRB thread, but I decided to to show a different side of things. I use conicals. 460 gr paper patched flat nose wide meplat conicals to be exact. I do aim for a shoulder in some cases. On elk I tend to aim for the off shoulder. I pound the heart lungs and then the shoulder on the way out. This year I hunted for 4 days without seeing a single elk. On my last day of the hunt I found one next to private land. I had to flatten this elk and I had to do it in less than 200 yards. I could not allow this animal to get to private land. So when she came in I took out the shoulder.

The shot was 60 yards and I hit about 3" higher than I really wanted. The shot completely shattered the shoulder. The lungs were mush.

Then the bullet traveled to the flank where I found it under the hide. There are cases you need to lay them out flat. I know my conical loads will do it.
Later I had a deer hunt. Again I was on my last hunting day and found the biggest buck I had seen since the opening day when elk hunters scared a bunch of bucks I had my eye on. The shot I had because of brush was a shoulder shot. At the shot the buck was instantly dead. The fastest ML kill I have ever seen.

I personally don't know if a PRB would have performed different. All I am commenting on is how a well constructed conical will do with shoulder shots. The bullets I make get the job done. Ron

 

[Vaino]

Deer can run pretty good on 3 legs and if a shoulder hit doesn't hit a vital organ, it'll run off and die. If both shoulders are hit, the deer will collapse but will need a "coup de grace". So...why intentionally aim for a shoulder? Behind the shoulder, halfway up in the lungs is a "sure thing" and doesn't mess up the meat.....Fred

 

[Stumpkiller]

Conicals are a different consideration. The topic was a .50 cal round ball.

I want both lungs compromised with a hole on each side and the diaphragm unable to draw breath. The deer will die. Some drop where they are hit. But I will hunt if more than shooting is required and will be as patient as it takes to get the angle right to assure proper placement.

 

[Idaho Ron]

Conicals are a different consideration. The topic was a .50 cal round ball.

I have seen countless threads about conicals that have been barraged by PRB is better posts. I never claimed that conicals were better I just gave an accurate account of what a well designed conical can do. Ron

 

[Stumpkiller]

The price you pay for participating on a traditional muzzleloading focus website. Round balls are not better. They require you to be better. ;-)